Pre Sporting event Stress
December 4, 2009
Pre-event stress is a common psychological condition. Now in this context we will be talking about pre-sporting event stress that deals with the stress that sports people undergo before a major sporting event.
A sport is an area that always requires sound mental preparation. They saw that like in war, and so too in sports, half the battle is won or lost in the mind. The degree of mental preparation varies from sport to sport, person to person. Mental preparedness can start from years or even hours.
Take for example, a heavyweight boozing bout. Here the two contenders will start preparing for the fight months or years before the fight.
In formula one racing, mental preparedness jumps onto another level altogether. If in boxing, the mind is attuned to physical aggressiveness and an attitude of no mercy, in formula one racing, the mind is conditioned for speed, clarity, presence, and concentration.
Different sport needs different mindsets. All this creates a rummage of controlled emotions that is invisibly tremulous. And turmoil creates stress. Stress creates panic. Panic destroys performance.
So how to insulate yourself against a pre-sporting event stress attack?
The following tips will help you tide through the pre-sporting event stress….
Visualize
Visualizing your fears may augment your stress levels, but it will definitely make you prepared. All great sportsmen visualize their game. For example, a great baseball player will visualize being on the field, and hitting all the deliveries thrown at him, or a tennis player will visualize all his serves falling in right on the first serve. But this does not stop there; the visualization can also get negative. Players visualize themselves to be in bad situations in a game, or even visualize themselves losing the game.
Visualization is a great practice to prepare your subconscious for any eventualities.
Meditate to relax
Meditation can help you relax your nerves. It will bring you’re the much needed soothing effect. Only a clear mind will execute sporting strategies. When your mind is muddled with lethargy and overwork, it tends to work counter productively.
Use pen and paper
A sporting event is not all about going there and getting on with it. It is also about premeditation and planning. To reduce the risk of confusing your mind, jot down your ideas on paper. Let the paper document all your ideas, fears, inhibitions, apprehensions, and strategies… Once done, you will know, what you were thinking. This is a great stress buster.
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